This has reference to Flight award ( Booking reference 4RIZKA) given to me by LUFTHANSA for flight dated 18th JUN 09. I was denied boarding by US AIRWAYS for the flight booked by Lufthansa Miles and More. As per US Airways Lufthansa had voided all the 3 tickets for my journey including Statement by US Airways Booking counter at Newark airport. Lufthansa
M&M support refused to acknowledge this and nor would they provide
any help or alternative.

Subsequently I had lodged a written complaint with Lufthansa M&M ,Santa Clarita on 19th June 09 through FAX. No action was taken and a follow up was done on 24 June 09 ( mr. Richard, M&M) where I was told that " a suitable solutionwill be provided soon".
This loss of flight already caused me severe mental agony, monetary lossesand cost me 2 job interviews. Repeated complaints only resulted in adding insult to the injury, 12,638 miles were deducted from my account—miles which I was supposed to spend on this journey. On further complaint a trifle of 5000 miles was given on 6th July 2009 as compensation as per my miles account .
All the whileno communication being given to me over email or in writing .
This attitude is grossly unprofessional and shameful for an airline
like Lufthansa .
ashish

My thought exactly! Not only did they void the ticket but they wiped out the remaining miles in the account as well. Sounds to me like an action the airline might take if they suspected some sort of fraud. Yet another post where we're not getting the WHOLE story.

asheesha, how did you obtain the miles for your ticket? e-Bay perhaps?

Assuming for a moment that the tickets in question were obtained legitimately: This is another example as to why I feel frequent flyer clubs and the free flight vouchers airlines hand-out are about as useful for transportation as a bananna peel. At a minimum, one should not attempt to use these things unless they are prepared to pay a "walk-up" fare to their destination.

Frequent flyer clubs MAY make some sense if one wants to accumulate hotel "miles," in a "frequent stay" program. Even then you open yourself to the possibility of an airline screeming "fraud," taking your account down to a negative balance; then saying you owe them for the allegedly improperly obtained miles. I could easily see United Air pulling a stunt like this.

Assuming for a moment that the tickets in question were obtained legitimately: This is another example as to why I feel frequent flyer clubs and the free flight vouchers airlines hand-out are about as useful for transportation as a bananna peel. At a minimum, one should not attempt to use these things unless they are prepared to pay a "walk-up" fare to their destination.

Frequent flyer clubs MAY make some sense if one wants to accumulate hotel "miles," in a "frequent stay" program. Even then you open yourself to the possibility of an airline screeming "fraud," taking your account down to a negative balance; then saying you owe them for the allegedly improperly obtained miles. I could easily see United Air pulling a stunt like this.

What's the matter, Butch? Upset because your beloved Lufthansa received a negative post? I'm sure if we hear from the OP again we'll learn there was probably some impropriety.

I don't know why you consistently bad-mouth airline frequent flier programs. Of course when people have unreasonable expectations they will almost always be a letdown. One can't expect award seats in the lowest mileage category to be available on every single flight. Using miles requires some flexibility. It always has and always will.

With airlines cutting capacity and planes consistently going out full or nearly full opportunities for redemption at the lowest levels will decrease. The problem is people accumulate the required 25K miles for a domestic "super-saver" award and expect to be able to use it over the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays or to send their college kid to Cancun for Spring break. It just doesn't work that way and when they can't get a ticket for the least amount of miles during the busiest seasons they cry foul! They should just earn another 25K miles and redeem a 50K anytime award that has far fewer capacity controls.

As for those who "buy" miles through e-Bay or other similar websites they need to realize it is in EVERY mileage program's rules that miles cannot be bought, sold or bartered. If caught engaging in such practices the consequences are usually cancellation of any tickets issued with those miles, confiscation of any miles remaining in the account, and possible closure of the accounts of both the buyer and seller.

No PHX... the miles were hard-earned over a period of 3 years..and not bought on the website.. and may I add I spent the business class miles.. despite the fact that I was booked in the economy class on 1 of the 3 legs of journey..so my cutting corners with miles is certainly not on... Aslo, Lufthansa did n't wipe the miles as such ...these were the miles which "expired" on 30th june 09... they would n't have expired had I made the trip..

As for explanation...none has been provided by Lufthansa as yet.. In fact they don't reply to FAX,and do not provide an email or the Germany office details. Even if the airlines considered it a fraud, an intimation should have been given to me. To cap it all, Lufthansa have posted self congratulatory message in my account on getting the "Freddie Award 2008"..perhaps this one's for most unethical marketing of services.

The M&M website has very limited routes you can book award flight online... for the rest , you are at the mercy of tele-support staff who get irritated soon if you ask them to try many itneraries.. If you book an international award flight, they make sure you shell out at least 325 USD by way of taxes... most of these tickets are available for around 450 USD through other agencies....

Lastly I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a return flight in lieu of 10 long distance flights in 3 years.........

A request.. can anyone provide details of any authority which can handle such complaints apart from the court? I had contacted DOT... but they seem to be have more of an advisory role.

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Apologise to others for wasting time in this forum..thought it was meaningful..

Apologize? Fort what? LYING, maybe! Gotcha! Tell the WHOLE story...or are you afraid to now? We can see through your lies! A reputable airline such as Lufthansa doesn't void/cancel award tickets AND wipe out your miles for no good reason whatsoever.

Apologize? Fort what? LYING, maybe! Gotcha! Tell the WHOLE story...or are you afraid to now? We can see through your lies! A reputable airline such as Lufthansa doesn't void/cancel award tickets AND wipe out your miles for no good reason whatsoever.

What facts do you have to back up your accusations regarding our new member, asheesha?

Furthermore, what do you think gives you the right to send a PM to new members with offensive language?

This sounds like Lufthansa either issued you a one-way ticket, when you thought you would get a round-trip, or they stranded you and you had to pay cash for a return flight.

Depending on what kind of documentation you have to support your case you might try Small Claims Court. However you should only file in a state which has an airport that Lufthansa flies to. If you won, and Lufthansa refused to pay the judgement, you would have nothing to attach if you filed in a state they don't fly to. Among other things you will need to have a copy of a statement showing you had sufficient miles for the given award and a copy of Lufthansa's award schedule with a description of each award. Photocopies of your tickets, if you made any, will also help.

You can also try complaining to the European Union ("EU"). But I don't think frequent flyer disputes is a topic covered by their passenger rights legislation. Here is the link to the EU complaint form:

Again, as I noted in a previous post, airline frequent flyer programs, regardless of the airline, are, in my view, little more than a glorified shell game. Using airline miles to get free hotel stays MIGHT be worthwhile. But even that may be a risky proposition.

Thanks to Administrator and Butch.. Admin has really encouraged me to continue with my efforts and Butch has taken pains to give me really useful trails.. I do have a printout given by US airways - the carrier, the ticket copy and the miles statement.. I'll try my luck. It is really ignominous the way Lufthansa is washing its hands off by paying 5000 compensation miles .As I wrote earlier, they then deducted about 12,800 miles stating that "these miles expired".. the very miles which I was supposed to use.

Lufthansa handed me a confirmed two-way ticket (Newark > Phoenix> Oakland US AIRWAYS and SFO > New york UNITED AIRLINES) ..I even 'spent' business class miles to travel part of journey in Economy class..have all the proofs but still feel cheated.

I'm sorry to have doubted you. Good luck dealing with Lufthansa. They are the "flagship" of the Star Alliance and as such should step up if they're at fault in any way.

In the interim I did some checking on the expiration policy of Miles & More program. It's vague to say the least. It's not clear if the expiry is renewable or rolling. With most US carriers as long as one has some activity before the expiry date the "clock is re-set" and all miles remain valid until the new expiry date. If I'm reading Lufthansa's T&C's correctly their miles seem to expire regardless of activity. It's a use them or lose them situation.

Our family's tickets were changed (this is the second time in 2 yrs) against our will. And Once we could not make it for the changed schedule forced upon us they were forfeited (actually taken, robbed ) by Lufthansa. When we try to call them we always get the recording (no live person anymore) and it says "customer feedback" when we called the main reservation number and tried to explain our problem they connected us to the same "customer feedback" recording and no one gets back to us. When we insist on talking to live person not possible. So they screwed us up on our travel plans to have a summer vacations kids are home we all stare at each other and I am remembering fu..ing Lufthansa everyday. And of course they robbed our almost $7000.
I never felt I could be robbed by a supposedly good named Airliner like Lufthansa used to be. I feel so mad. Already filed DOT BBB State agencies and I am contuning on filing whereever I could find and word of mouth I am talking about this continiously about these THIEVES. Shame on you Lufthansa